The 3rd annual Big Sky Blues Festival has just added David Raitt (Bonnie Raitt's brother) and his Baja Boogie Band, to the line-up. Also appearing will be The Randy Oxford Band, The Brooklyn Blues Project, Big Daddy & the Bluenotes, Franco Paletta & the Stingers, Yellow Dog & the Jubilation Singers, The Rafael Tranquilino Band, The Sara Brown Band, VIBE, Ravinwolf, Yabba Griffith and more.
The Big Sky all-star jam session hosted by Randy Oxford on Sunday evening will close out the Festival.
With unlimited space for Camping and RV and held on the River, in the mountains under the Big Montana Sky, The Big Sky Blues Festival is rapidly becoming a Festival circuit favorite in the Pacific NW region. Family friendly with lots of outdoor activities available.
Festival dates are August 4th and 5th, with a pre-festival kick off party on August 3rd at the Naughty Pine Saloon in near by Trout Creek, MT. There will also be a raffle going all weekend for a 3 day Sail Boat Cruise on the "San Juan Full Moon" for 2 adults, with Randy Oxford and Friends around the San Juan Islands off the Washington state coast.
Festival attendees who are staying at the festival site are welcome to come a day early and stay a day later to take in this beautiful vacation area.
Located just 2 hours NE of Spokane,WA in Noxon, MT.
JOIN US FOR THE 3RD ANNUAL BIG SKY BLUES FESTIVAL!
Tickets and info at www.bigskyblues.com or call 406-827-4210
(Standard Speaker) Alison Briggs didn't want a Woodstock-like concert in her family's backyard, when her husband, Richard, proposed the idea well more than a decade ago. Now, she sees the Briggs Farm Blues Festival as a legacy for her grandchildren - the 11th generation living on the working family farm which dates back to 1760.
Across the road and down the hill from the Briggs' 135-year-old farmhouse, a grassy farm field acts as a natural amphitheater for the legendary performers taking the main stage and introducing a new generation to the blues.
Headlining the 15th anniversary festival July 6 and 7 will be Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater on Friday night and Bernard Allison on Saturday night. Also featured on the main stage will be Moreland & Arbuckle, Rory Block, Linsey "Hoochie Man" Alexander and crowd-favorite, The Alexis P. Suter Band.
Lonnie Shields ~ Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater ~ Alexis P. Suter
The Butterfield Blues Band, featuring original member Sam Lay and Jimmy Vivino of the Conan O'Brien Show, will take the main stage early Saturday evening celebrating the late Paul Butterfield, who died 25 years ago.
Paul's son, Gabriel, handpicked performers coming together in this tribute, which is the first in a series of shows beginning at the Briggs farm and ending in the Catskills of New York, where the Butterfield Blues Band took the stage in front of a half-a-million people at another music festival on Max Yasgur's farm in 1969. "Paul Butterfield created the first integrated band of the 1960s and when the first Butterfield album came out, they bridged the gap bringing white audiences to black music greatly changing the course," Gabriel Butterfield said in an email interview. "All the members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band to this day still keep changing history."
He hopes a documentary on his father's life, part of which will be filmed at Briggs, will tell "a story that needs to be told about a musician who played a pinnacle role in music history, including the first electric band that backed Bob Dylan."
...On the Back Porch, the more-intimate, second stage at the festival, performers often chat with the audience, sharing blues-born tales of life on the road.
Lonnie Shields, no stranger to the Briggs festival, will perform on the Back Porch both Friday and Saturday nights as well as cooking up Mississippi Delta-style barbecue the way his family did in his native Arkansas. "The secret is love," Shields said of his family's slow-cooked meat and his own "Lick the Bone" barbecue sauce.
Pulled pork, baby-back ribs, smoked chicken wings, homemade cole slaw and roasted sweet corn are on the menu along with fresh, hot macaroni and cheese - a first this year, Richard Briggs said. But for those with a sweet tooth, desserts such as stacked-high strawberry shortcake and pecan pie will also be included ...
... The festival which attracts more than 4,000 people from around the world and has featured more than 170 regional, national and international blues artists since its inception that almost never materialized.
"In the beginning, he wined and dined me to let me know this was what he was asking," Alison Briggs recalls. "This is our backyard. It took some convincing ... But Richard had a vision." Fifteen years later, that vision has become a family business that the couple is passing onto the next generation of Briggs, their grandchildren.
... "It is a legacy."
Rules: No pets, no kegs, no glass and no chainsaws (happened ... once, Briggs said.)
For more information or to order tickets, visit www.briggsfarm.com.
HISTORIC ST. FERIOLE ISLAND & PRAIRIE DOG BLUES FESTIVAL!
July 27 & 28, 2012 ~ 2 DAYS ~ 2 STAGES ~ 12 BANDS
The Prairie Dog Blues Festival is held every year on historic St. Feriole Island, right on the Mississippi River, nestled between jagged cliffs and green hills untouched by the Ice Age... one of the most beautiful venues anywhere.
This year's festival features: Shemekia Copeland, JJ Grey & Mofro, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, Trampled Under Foot, Indigenous, Harper, The Steepwater Band, Tweed Funk, Gerome Durham & The All-Star Band, Matthew Curry & The Fury, Terry Quiett & Alex Wilson Band.
Shemekia Copeland ~ Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
Once you get that cold drink in your hand, great tunes in your ear and good, friendly people all around! You’ll soon be calling yourself a Prairie Dogger! Blues and Roots music from Chicago Blues to West Coast Jump, hard-driving Mississippi Hill Country Blues, New Orleans horns and Texas Boogie, Zydeco, Gospel, Blues Rock – We’ve got it all!
The Prairie Dog is one of the most laid-back blues festivals out there! It is located on St. Feriole Island in a beautiful city park right on the Mississippi River. Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin founded in the late 1600's has a ton of history. Wisconsin's most toured historical site, The Villa Louis (a stunning, fully restored Victorian mansion), is located on the island next to the fest grounds.
There are some hard choices to be made at The Prairie Dog! You can either get up out of your chair, stretch and walk a few yards to the beer tent or you can have one of these lovely ladies bring your drink to you! Decisions, decisions!
Camp right on site with your friends and meet new friends! Typical walk from your site to the gate of the festival is 200-300 yards. Food and drink as well as campfires, singing, playing music and telling stories is strongly encouraged. The festival is a one block walk off The Island and you are downtown surrounded by family owned pubs, restaurants and small retail stores. If staying in a motel is more your style, blues fest shuttles will get you to the fest in a 5 minute drive or less!
Tickets and camping are available by calling 1-888-567-1567 or online at www.prairiedogblues.com. Information on accommodations can be found at www.prairieduchien.org or by calling 800-732-1673.
Visit The website for a chance to win free tickets to the Fest!
Pittsburgh Blues Festival is the largest fundraiser of the year for Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. The 18th Annual Pittsburgh Blues Festival, presented by People's Natural Gas, takes place July 20-22 at Hartwood Acres, a fabulous county park just outside Pittsburgh.
This year’s spectacular line-up features the “Kings of Boogie,” Canned Heat, the first lady of the blues, Mavis Staples, the legendary Bobby “Blue” Bland, 8th generation Creole, Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience, Bernard Allison (son of the late great Luther Allison), Jimmy Thackery & the Drivers, Anthony Gomes, Albert Cummings and Barbara Blue, plus great local bands. KidZone (with arts, crafts, healthy snacks), raffles (more than $10,000 worth of raffle prizes!), merchandise vendors, and plenty of food!
Mavis Staples & Canned Heat
Admission on Friday is FREE with bag of groceries to donate to the Food Bank! Kids 12 and under always free – free parking too! Personal cooler donation fee: $10.00 (feeds a hungry kid for a week!). All proceeds help to feed hungry people in South Western Pennsylvania.
(Top and bottom photo credit: Jim Barnoff)
More info & tickets: www.pghblues.com or 412-460-BLUE.
Discussions